1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a remote control for a combined ceiling fan and light fixture. Specifically, the present invention is directed to a remote control which may be used as a replacement for an existing wall switch and which provides for control of the ceiling fan and accompanying light fixture without any modification to the existing electrical wiring between the wall switch and the light fixture. In an alternative embodiment, the remote control may be an infrared or radio linked remote control communicating with the wall control discussed above, or communicating with a control mounted in the ceiling fan or accompanying light fixture. In either embodiment, the remote control may be equipped with a novel animated display depicting direction and/or speed of fan rotation as well as light intensity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ceiling fans known in the prior art provide for a variety of desired features. Specifically, modern ceiling fans may be controlled to operate at a plurality of different speeds from a relatively low speed to a high maximum speed. Low speeds may be desirable to provide for general air circulation and to eliminate "hot" or "cold" spots within a room. Higher speeds may be desirable for cooling effects (in summer) or to eliminate temperature gradients (in winter). In addition, the direction of rotation may generally be controlled to be in either one of two opposite directions. In the winter, it is generally desirable to have the fan turn in one direction (updraft) to circulate hot air away from the ceiling. In the summer, it may be desirable to have the fan turn in the opposite direction (downdraft) to provide a cooling effect on the occupants in the room.
Ceiling fans are often combined with a light fixture or fixtures with the intensity level of the light fixture(s) controlled from low levels to maximum high levels. Most ceiling fans are designed so that they may be installed in existing ceiling junction boxes, replacing existing light fixtures. In such an installation, shown in FIG. 1, there is generally a wall switch 101 switching load line 102 from circuit main 170 in the house. Switched load line 103 and neutral line 104 from circuit main 170 terminate in a ceiling junction box 105. A ceiling fan 106 with light fixture 180 is typically installed attached to junction box 105 in a similar manner as a standard light fixture. Because ceiling fan 106 must be adaptable to existing wiring in the house, fan speed switch 107, fan direction switch 108, and light intensity dimmer switch 109 are usually mounted in the switch housing attached to ceiling fan 106 itself.
Fan mounted switches 107, 108, and 109 may be preset to the desired levels of speed, direction, and light intensity, respectively, and wall switch 101 used to turn ceiling fan 106 and light fixture 180 to these preset levels.
The disadvantage of such an approach is that each time the user wishes to change the existing levels, a switch must be changed at ceiling fan 106. For example, during the daytime, it may be desirable to run ceiling fan 106 at a high speed and shut off light fixture 180 in order to cool the house. In the evening, it may be desirable to run ceiling fan 106 at a medium speed and turn light fixture 180 on to maintain an even temperature throughout the house and to provide illumination, respectively. At night, it may be desirable to run ceiling fan 106 at low speed and turn light fixture 180 off to maintain air circulation with a minimum of noise. If ceiling fan 106 is located at a sufficient distance above the floor, it may be necessary to use a step stool or ladder in order to reach fan mounted switches 107, 108, and 109 in order to change the speed or direction of ceiling fan 106 or the intensity of light fixture 180.
One way to overcome the disadvantages of the installation of FIG. 1 would be to install separate circuits to individual wall mounted switches for the fan speed, fan direction, and lighting control. While such an installation may be practical in new construction, in an existing home it would be necessary to remove portions of the ceiling and walls to run the additional wiring. In addition, in either new or existing construction, running additional wires involves additional expense and in some localities may require the services of a licensed electrician. Further, many ceiling fans are sold as owner-installed units with an easy to use installation kit. The complexities of house wiring are beyond the capabilities of most "do-it-yourselfers" and the length of wiring in each installation would be different, adding expense to the installation kit.
One prior art device which has been used to provide a partial solution to the above described problem of remotely controlling the operation of a ceiling fan is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,211 issued Nov. 1, 1983 to Fowler. This prior art Patent is directed towards a remote load selector which uses an existing wall switch to control a load by toggling the existing switch to provide for the selective application of power to multiple loads such as a combined ceiling fan and light fixture. The Fowler device has a number of limitations due to the fact that the user must apply power by manually operating the wall switch. For instance, the user may become confused as to which level the fan was previously switched to, making control difficult. In addition, the prior art load selector described above is generally limited in the number of control steps that can be realistically accomplished by the application and removal of power to the loads. For example, a typical ceiling fan may have three speeds in two separate directions, making a total of six different combinations of toggled signals that may be sent. If a light fixture is added to the fan, the number of combinations may be doubled to twelve. If the light fixture has more than one intensity setting, or if additional fan speeds are desired, the number of toggled combinations expands geometrically. The user may find himself toggling the wall switch repeatedly trying to find the proper combination of light intensity, fan speed, and fan direction.
Another prior art device which provides a partial solution to the above mentioned problem is the radio frequency remote control described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,544 to Angott. Angott shows a remote control for a ceiling fan with a hand held radio frequency transmitter and a radio frequency receiver located in the fan housing. The Angott device has the advantage in that it does not require a wall switch box, and thus may be practical in installations where a wall switch is not present. The disadvantage of the Angott unit is similar to that of the Fowler unit, in that only two switches are provided for the remote control, and thus the user must "toggle" the switches in order to switch between speeds, directions, and light intensities. Further, radio frequency controls have the disadvantage in that they are subject to electromagnetic interference and can only transmit a finite distance. If multiple fan installations are contemplated (i.e.--commercial installation, auditorium, etc.) then separate radio frequencies would be needed for each remote control in order to be able to control each fan individually.
The toggling mechanism of Fowler, the radio frequency remote control of Angott, and the prior art fan mounted controls (typically pull chain switches) all present an additional disadvantage in that it is not readily apparent to the user what speed the fan is turning when switching from one speed to the next. The fan blades are relatively large and heavy, consequently when the fan speed is changed, the fan accelerates or decelerates slowly due to the inertia of the fan blades, the mass of the moving parts of the a.c. induction motor, and the mass of the mechanism which drives the blades. This is a distinct shortcoming as the user must wait until the fan reaches the selected speed in order to determine which of the available speeds has been selected.
One prior art device which attempts to overcome the speed indication problem is that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,463, issued Aug. 9, 1988 to Yang. Yang uses a series of indicator lights located on the fan housing to indicate fan speed. The disadvantage of this indicator light arrangement is that the light may not be visible from the location of the wall mounted switch, and hence the user may not be able to see the indicator lights and determine what speed the fan is turning at. Further, in installations in high ceilings the indicator lights may be difficult to see without a step stool or ladder. In addition, the fan mounted indicator lights may not be aesthetically pleasing for some ornate fan designs which attempt to give the fan an historical look. The indicator lights may also be an annoyance in a bedroom installation where the lights would be quite visible to a user lying awake in bed. Finally, the Yang device does not solve the aforementioned problem of providing a fan speed and direction control combined with a lighting control at a remote location from the fan housing.
One prior art device which attempts to solve both the control and indicator problems of the devices discussed above, is the Hunter Model 22691 3-Speed Rotary Speed Control. The unit comprises a four position rotary switch and control module, packaged to replace an ordinary light switch in a standard wall box. The Model 22691 can be easily installed using existing wiring, and provides an easy to use four position switch (off, low, medium, and high). The Model 22691 rotary switch has an advantage over the Fowler device discussed above in that the rotary dial also serves as an indicator to indicate to the user what speed the fan is switched to. The disadvantage of the Model 22691 is that it cannot provide reversing control or lighting control. In fact the Model 22691 has one drawback due to the nature of the circuit design in that the fan and light cannot be used simultaneously unless the control is switched to the "high" setting.
Another prior art device which provides a partial solution to both of the aforementioned control and indication problems is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,466, issued Jan. 12, 1988 to Hart. Hart provides a remote control wall switch with three switches. One switch is a standard single pole double throw on/off switch for providing power to the fan. The other two switches are spring release toggle switches for the light and speed controls. The switches operate similarly to the device of Fowler discussed above in that the toggle switches are momentarily switched to change fan speed or light intensity. Fan direction is controlled by operating both toggle switches simultaneously. Fan speed is indicated by an audio tone generated by a tone generator located in the fan housing.
The disadvantages of the Hart device are several. First, the toggle switching technique can be confusing for the user, as the device discriminates between toggle of more than one second and less than one second. The user must have a degree of coordination in order to properly switch between speeds, light intensities, or fan directions. Further, if the user "overshoots" his desired fan speed, he must toggle through the range again, as in the Fowler device. Further, in order to ascertain the fan speed, the user must be able to hear and discern the audio tones. In applications where the fan is remotely located from the control (i.e.--auditorium) the audio tone may not be heard where the fan speed control switch is located (i.e.--backstage). In addition, background noise may obscure the audio tones, or the audio tones may themselves be a nuisance (i.e.--commercial installations in restaurants, shops, theaters, etc.). Finally, the audio tones must be discernible to the user. Those who are hearing impaired or "tone deaf" may not be able to discern what speed the fan is set at from the audio tones. Even those of perfect hearing may not be able to determine fan speed upon initial power up, as the tone may have to be compared to a previous tone to discern whether the speed is relatively high or low.
In both the Hart device and the Hunter Model 22691, the remote controls are relatively simple devices. Hart uses Silicon Controlled Rectifiers (SCRs) or Triacs to alter the zero-crossing point of the 60 Hz sinusoidal power line signal in order to communicate with a controller mounted in the ceiling fan itself. The Hunter Model 22691 uses a series of switched capacitors to alter fan speed. In all three instances, the remote controls do not contain a power supply per se, and thus cannot drive any sophisticated switching devices or displays. In the prior art devices of Hart and Fowler, the power supply is wired in parallel to the ceiling fan and located within the ceiling fan housing itself. The power supply is usually located in the ceiling fan because, as in the installation shown in FIG. 1, neutral line 104 does not pass through wall switch box 101, and hence there would be no return path for a power supply wired in parallel with ceiling fan 106 if it were located in wall switch box 101. As such, the prior art devices do not have a power supply capable of driving a sophisticated switching device or fan speed indicator, and instead rely on simple toggle switches or a battery powered radio transmitter to transmit signals to a fan mounted control.
The use of simple switching devices to control fan speed, direction and light intensity has a further disadvantage, as the user must physically be present to change fan speed, direction, or light intensity. The control devices discussed above do not have any provision for automatic control of ceiling fan 106 or light fixture 180 when the user is absent. The disadvantages of these devices is that if the user leaves ceiling fan 106 on when no one is present, ceiling fan 106 would be wasting energy. Further, when ceiling fan 106 is switched on in the evening, it may provide a comfortable breeze, however as night falls, and temperature drop, ceiling fan 106 may be circulating too much air for comfort, forcing the user to get out of bed and shut ceiling fan 106 off. In addition, it may be desirable to have light fixture 180 switched on and off occassionally if the user is not at home for several days in order to provide the appearance of occupancy and discourage burglars.
Wall mounted timer switches are generally known in the art. Such switches can be used to switch an appliance or light off after a predetermined period. The disadvantage of a simple timer switch is that it merely shuts off all power to an appliance. More sophisticated known timer switches may have an internal clock to switch an appliance on or off at predetermined intervals.
For a ceiling fan, however, it may be desirable to reduce fan speed or reverse fan direction after a predetermined amount of time in order to maintain comfort in a room. In addition it may be desirable to switch light fixture 180 independently of ceiling fan 106. Further, it may be desirable to turn ceiling fan 106 off or on, change fan speed, or change fan direction at a predetermined interval or at a predetermined temperature. A simple timer switch does not provide independent control of fan speed, direction or light intensity, nor does it provide a display of fan speed, direction or light intensity. In addition, many prior art timer switches are designed to fit a standard wall box. If a timer switch is used, an additional wall box may have to be installed in order to house a fan speed, direction and lighting control, adding additional expense and difficulty to the installation.
Security switches are also generally known in the art, either as an external "plug-in" module, or as a wall mounted switch, both of which may work in conjunction with a central controller. Security switches, known in the art, may switch an appliance on or off for predetermined intervals to give the appearance of occupancy. The disadvantage of the security switch is that one switch may switch only one load at a time. If the fan and light are to be switched independently, separate switches and wires would need be run, adding expense and difficulty to the installation. Alternately, if only the light is desired to be switched on or off, then the fan must be set by the user with its fan mounted controls to run the light only prior to programming the security switch. As in the timer switch discussed above, the security switch module generally requires a wall switch box for installation, and as such, any additional fan speed, fan direction, or light intensity control would require the installation of extra wall switch boxes, adding extra expense and difficulty to the installation.
In view of the deficiencies of the above prior art devices, it remains a requirement in the art to provide a remote control for a ceiling fan which can be easily installed using existing wiring, provide easy "intuitive" user-friendly operation, and provide a clear display to the user of fan speed, direction, and light intensity. It remains a further requirement in the art to provide a power supply for a remote control which can be powered solely from the switched load line of the fan and can power a sophisticated switching device, display or timer. It remains yet a further requirement in the art to provide automatic and independent switching operation of fan speed, fan direction, and light intensity. It remains an even further requirement in the art to provide timed independent automatic control of fan speed, fan direction, and light intensity. In addition, it remains a further requirement to provide a wireless remote control that does not necessarily rely on radio frequencies to control a particular ceiling fan and can also provide user-friendly control, display, and timed independent switching and control of fan speed, fan direction, and light intensity.